North Korean medium-range missile test fails, US says

An attempted missile launch by North Korea on Sunday failed, US and South Korean defence officials said.

Pentagon of the United States has also confirmed the DPRK's missile launch, saying that the missile blew up nearly immediately and the type of missile is still being assessed.

Mike Pence arrived at the gateway to the Demilitarised Zone dividing the two Koreas on Monday, an AFP correspondent reported, in a show of USA resolve hours after North Korea failed in its attempt to test another missile.

Pence will be tasked with explaining the policy in meetings with leaders in South Korea and Japan during the trip, which will also include stops in Indonesia and Australia. South Korea's Defense Ministry said it was analyzing exactly how the North Korean launch failed.

South Korea, which hosts more than 20,000 U.S. troops warned of punitive action, saying the North's show of force "threatened the whole world".

"This is the same location as Pyongyang's latest missile launch 11 days ago, when another missile was said to have failed after flying some 60 km into the waters between Korea and Japan", Lee reports. In a Saturday night statement, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said the following.

North Korea's actions come as tensions on the Korean Peninsula have spiked. Speaking after North Korea's "failed" missile test, United States national security adviser H R McMaster said Trump will not allow Kim Jong Un's regime to have the capacity to threaten the US.

But he will no doubt address worries in Washington that any new government may slow-walk the deployment of THAAD - a system created to shoot down missiles from North Korea or elsewhere.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visits at the border village of Panmunjom which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, South Korea, Monday, April 17, 2017.

"I think there's an worldwide consensus now, including the Chinese and the Chinese leadership, that this is a situation that just can't continue".

"We need to apply pressure on North Korea so they seriously respond to a dialogue" with the global community, he said, urging China and Russian Federation to play more constructive roles on the issue. deforested stretch of North Korea from a lookout post in the hillside.

Keeping up the verbal volleying, North Korea's deputy U.N. ambassador accused the United States of turning the Korean peninsula into "the world's biggest hotspot" and creating "a risky situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment". China on Friday again called for talks to defuse the crisis.

Pence said he had spoken with President Donald Trump, who asked to convey to the troops in South Korea that "we're proud of you and we're grateful for your service".

But that missile, which US officials said appeared to be a liquid-fuelled, extended-range Scud, only flew about 60 km (40 miles), a fraction of its range before spinning out of control.

A North Korea missile exploded during launch in the latest test on Sunday.

Sunday's failed missile test occurred near the naval base in Sinpo where North Korea is reportedly developing a sea-based nuclear deterrent.

An attempted missile launch by North Korea on Sunday failed, USA and South Korean defense officials told CNN.

Tension in the area has risen under as the administration of President Donald Trump in the United States has said that all options are on the table, which Abe said Japan supports.

Chinese tourists in Dandong, a city bordering North Korea, piled on to ferries and speedboats on Sunday as usual for cruises on the Yalu river and up-close views of North Korean border guards and villages.

China has spoken out against the North's weapons tests and has supported United Nations sanctions.

Ostensibly yesterday's event was to mark the 105th anniversary of the North's founder Kim Il-Sung's birth.

The visit comes after a huge military parade during which North Korea showcased apparent intercontinental ballistic missiles, and as a U.S. carrier group converges on the Korean peninsula, ratcheting up tensions to their highest point in years.